Landmark ruling for cannabis grower

On Thursday the 29th of October, famous Dutch cannabis grower Doede de Jong was found guilty of cultivating cannabis, but without receiving a punishment! A true historic moment for the Dutch and international cannabis communities, of which Cannabis News Network made a report.

While Dutch coffeeshops’ practice of selling cannabis under certain circumstances is tolerated, the way they purchase their stock remains illegal, therefore forcing them to operate within a gray area. This often means coffeeshops have to buy cannabis from criminal growers who prefer quantity over quality.

Because the government does not change their cannabis policy, they maintain a system that encourages criminality, as well as circulation of weed of really bad quality which is a threat to public health.

Doede de Jong is a famous cannabis grower who fights for legal supply of high quality cannabis to coffeeshops. To support his stance, he cultivated cannabis in a greenhouse, using only natural resources and biological nutrition and pesticides. He sold his high quality cannabis to a coffeeshop whose activity of selling cannabis is tolerated.

After being sentenced in 2014, De Jong took his case to the High Court. Said Court acknowledged his motives and settled on this historic ruling.

Footage from Fryske Himp used in cooperation with Bleijs Film. Watch the full (Dutch) documentary on YouTube here.